RBI's composite financial inclusion index sees uptick with growth across all parameters
The RBI's composite financial inclusion index (FI-Index), capturing the extent of financial inclusion across the country, rose to 60.1 in March 2023, showing growth across all parameters.

Financial Inclusion Index improved to 60.1 in March 2023 against 56.4 in March 2022
Mumbai: The value of Financial Inclusion (FI) Index, which captures the extent of financial inclusion across the country, improved to 60.1 in March 2023 vis-à-vis 56.4 in March 2022, with growth witnessed across all sub-indices, according to the Reserve Bank of India. Improvements in FI Index were mainly contributed by usage and quality dimensions, reflecting deepening of financial inclusion, per a central statement.

Experts sound caution on emerging risks in digital transformation of financial services
Kochi: Though digital transformation of financial services is inevitable, there is a need to focus on emerging risks, say experts at the concluding day of IIM Kozhikode’s week long seminar on ‘Banking Regulation, Intermediary Soundness and Systemic Stability.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank launches savings account, current account for premium segment
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank has launched Maxima Savings Account and Business Maxima Current Account for the premium customer segment.

Green funding: SBI plans to bundle home loans with rooftop solar installations
The country's largest lender SBI plans to bundle and make home loans with rooftop solar installations mandatory for residential projects funded from the bank's long term climate action funds drawn down from multilateral agencies. The SBI, which has a home loan book of over Rs 6.3 lakh crore as of June, has outstanding forex loans of USD 2.3 billion from multilateral lenders, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and KfW of Germany.

J&K Bank managing director presents dividend cheques worth Rs 30 crore to J&K Lt Governor
Jammu and Kashmir Bank on Friday presented dividend cheques worth over Rs 30 crore to the Union Territory government, initiating the payment of dividend to its shareholders after seven years. MD and CEO Baldev Prakash presented two cheques worth Rs 28.57 crore and Rs 1.84 crore to the Jammu and Kashmir government, its promoter and major shareholder, an official spokesman said.

Indian Bank to deploy more than 5,000 business correspondents
Chennai: Public sector Indian Bank would deploy over 5,000 new business correspondents (BC) by March 2024. This effort is expected to significantly bolster the bank's reach and accessibility, ensuring that more underserved communities have access to essential financial services, a statement here on Friday said.
 

UCO Bank target is to grow operating profit by 15% this financial year: MD
Ashwani Kumar, MD & CEO, UCO Bank, says “our target is to grow operating profit by 15% during this financial year and on a year-on-year basis and profit after tax is a play of provisions and going forward looking at the PCR, we are having around 94-95% PCR and our net NPA is already 1.19% and the provisioning requirements on a quarter-on-quarter basis, on year-on-year basis will come down. Our gross NPA is also coming down. It has come down to 4.48% this quarter and we will continue to see the declining trend in the remaining quarters as well and with all this in place, the ROA will improve in the coming quarters.”

Axis Bank investment banking arm Axis Capital's co-CEO steps down

Mumbai: Private sector lender Axis Bank's investment banking arm Axis Capital's co-head Chirag Negandhi has stepped down from his post of joint MD and Co-CEO, sources aware of the development told ET.

Aiming to bring agri NPAs down to 7%: Dinesh Kumar Khara, SBI
"As far as this quarter is concerned, inflation, of course, we have seen that for two months there was inflation which was outside the tolerance level of Reserve Bank of India," says Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman, SBI.

Breaking records: PSBs set to surpass ₹1-lakh crore profits this fiscal too, say analysts
Public sector banks’ (PSBs) profitability would remain strong this fiscal as well with the aggregate profits in all likelihood expected to exceed the record ₹1-lakh crore recorded last fiscal, say analysts and banking sector experts.

Standard Chartered opens private banking centre in Chennai
Standard Chartered Bank on Friday opened its private banking centre in Chennai- the fifth private banking centre of the bank after Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. The private banking service is designed for high net worth and ultra high net worth (UHNW) clients offering products, advisory and insights to manage, grow, and protect wealth.

HSBC to boost startup funding across sectors
HSBC India plans to expand its funding corpus for startups after exhausting 80% of the $250 million earmarked last year, a senior executive said, underscoring the lender’s focus on the sector facing funding challenges.

IndusInd Bank launches ‘Virtual Commercial Credit Card’ to allow cross-border payments for corporates and travel agents
IndusInd Bank announced the launch of the ‘Virtual Commercial Card’, a credit card to allow cross-border transactions for corporates and travel agents. In a tie-up with Visa and Juspay, this virtual card has additional layers of security that can be defined for each transaction, which grants the users complete control over their international expenses, making it a safe and hassle-free experience for the customers.  

HDFC Bank-Diners Club eyes B2B space to grow credit card business
Source Credit: Manojit Saha, Business Standard

Mumbai: HDFC Bank the largest credit card issuer in the country is eyeing the commercial spends space in association with Diners Club in a bid to grow its business.

Visa, Hyperface partner to advance credit access and co-branded credit card
 

Credit card users in India may no longer be able to overpay their dues
 

Non-cash transactions to hit 2.3 lakh crore in volumes globally by 2027: Report
As consumers and businesses adopt new digital payment schemes, non-cash transactions will touch 2.3 trillion in transaction volumes by 2027, a report by Capgemini Research Institute revealed, reported Business Standard.

CP rates to remain elevated, issuances by NBFCs to rise
Mumbai: Rates on commercial papers (CPs), short-term securities issued by companies to raise funds, are expected to remain elevated owing to liquidity fluctuations on the back of tax outflows and increased spending during the festival season.

Cholamandalam Investment joins Rs 1-trillion market cap club; hits new high

The stock touched a new high of Rs 1,239.80, gaining nearly 3 per cent from the previous day's close. In the past two trading days, the stock has rallied 7 per cent. It has also zoomed 88 per cent from its 52-week low of Rs 658 touched on January 6, 2023.

Jupiter appoints ex-Swiggy executive Anuj Rathi as chief product and marketing officer

“Next phase of growth”

Payments banks should be allowed to offer Rs 2 lakh- Rs 5 lakh loans: Airtel PB MD
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) must consider allowing payments banks to offer small ticket loans of Rs 2 lakh- Rs 5 lakh quantum and also accept fixed deposits, Airtel Payments Bank MD Anubrata Biswas told FE.

Fintechs take steps towards self-regulation after RBI push
Mumbai: Days after RBI governor Shakitkanta Das gave the fintech industry a year to set up a self-regulatory organisation, the Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE) adopted a new code of conduct for digital lenders to establish itself as an SRO.
 

UPI Now, Pay Later: Not enough money in bank account? You can still do UPI transactions and pay later; how to use

Do you know that even if you don't have enough money in your bank account, you can still pay through your Unified Payments Interface (UPI) application? The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has now allowed banks to offer a credit line facility to UPI users. You can spend from a pre-sanctioned credit line and repay the bank later. How does it work? Read on to find out.

UPI driving digital shift in India, but is not a money maker: Mastercard CFO
Mastercard, the world's second-largest payments network, said India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a loss-making proposition for the players in the ecosystem even as it driving digitisation in the country.

Global crypto industry awaits India's regulatory clarity on virtual assets and crypto
India will have to legalise cryptos if the government wants to collect taxes and manage data, according to Kokila Alagh, founder and legal consultant at KARM Legal Consultants based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Bitcoin rises above $26,500; XRP, Tron jump up to 4%

Major cryptocurrencies traded higher on Friday. Bitcoin (BTC) rose 1.5% to $26,580, whereas Ethereum (ETH) was above the 1,600 level.

‘WhatsApp university’: Parekh flags financial misselling, says MFs’ role key
Mumbai: Amid rising incidents of unregistered entities providing misleading stock recommendations to investors, HDFC Asset Management Company Chairman Deepak Parekh on Friday stated that mutual fund (MF) distributors can play an important role in driving financial literacy and ensuring investors remain invested for the long-term. “In an era of easy online access of information or what is called the proliferation of “WhatsApp University”, there is also a lot of misinformation and misselling, despite all the safeguards put in place by the regulator.

Role of MF distributors critical in ensuring investors stay invested: Deepak Parekh
Amid rising incidents of unregistered entities providing misleading stock recommendations to investors, HDFC Asset Management Company Chairman Deepak Parekh on Friday stated that mutual fund (MF) distributors can play an important role in driving financial literacy and ensuring investors remain invested for the long-term.

MF Folio: How different modes of holding work
After making the decision to invest in mutual funds (MFs), the immediate next step for you is to decide what kind of account would you like to create for holding your MF investments. It is important to understand the holding types, ignoring which can create difficulties in future. There are different modes of holding your MF folios such as single holding and joint holding. Based on one’s preference or situation, a particular type of account or multiple types of accounts can be chosen. Here is a lowdown on MF folio holding modes.

Every scheme in 5 equity mutual fund categories offer over 20% in three years

Most investors invest in equity mutual funds to pocket double-digit returns. These investors got lucky. Every scheme in five equity mutual fund categories has offered more than 20% returns in three years, an analysis of returns by ETMutualFunds showed. These schemes were from contra, large & mid cap, mid cap, small cap, and value fund categories.

Bandhan Mutual Fund files draft for micro cap fund

Bandhan Mutual Fund has filed a draft for a micro cap fund. Bandhan Microcap Fund will be an open-ended scheme investing in micro cap companies.

Global bond indices inclusion: Discussion, not concession
Over the weekend, top leaders of the world's leading economies converged in New Delhi to discuss diverse issues ranging from global growth, trade and investment to climate change as part of the G-20 Summit. The timing could not have been better as India, which hosted the summit, remains the fastest-growing economy with the potential of 6-7% growth rate.

Foreign holdings of certain India bonds near record on index inclusion bets
Foreign investors have increased their holdings of Indian government bonds that have no ownership restrictions to just under a record $12 billion amid expectations of domestic bonds' inclusion in global indexes.

India bond yields edge higher ahead of fresh supply
AAAa Indian government bond yields rose marginally in early session on Friday, after easing over the last two sessions, as focus shifted to the weekly debt auction.

SGB issue closes today: Should you buy ahead of festive season?

The Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB), which closes today, has given the investors who purchased bonds at higher rates to add further here in new issues, analysts and industry executives said. The subscription for SGB had opened on September 11, 2023.

Bank of Maharashtra raises ₹515 cr via Tier-2 bonds at 7.98 per cent

BoM received total bids of ₹760 crore for the Basel III Compliant Tier-2 Bonds issue. Further, the bank has accepted bid of ₹515 crore (including base issue of ₹250 crore and green shoe option retained upto ₹265 crore) at coupon rate of 7.98 per cent, per the filing.